http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/25/dining/25fruit.html
"THE apples of autumn are as crisp and juicy as ever. But most will be staying that crisp and juicy, if less aromatic, months longer because of a gas called SmartFresh that growers and packers are using to slow ripening. SmartFresh is just starting to be used effectively on produce other than apples. Cantaloupes and bananas treated with it are already being sold. Officials of the manufacturer, AgroFresh, as well as apple wholesalers, say that 55 to 60 percent of the apples sold in the United States are treated with SmartFresh, a synthetic gas introduced in 2002. The cost to growers is about a penny for every pound of apples, and the treatment is most likely harmless to humans, according to pesticide experts. The gas blocks the ripening effect of ethylene, a natural plant hormone that makes fruit ripen and eventually decay. A six-month-old Jonagold treated with SmartFresh is as firm as one stored for two months under traditional methods, and a Red Delicious stays crunchy for three weeks after storage, instead of one, according to James Mattheis, a postharvest physiologist for the federal Agriculture Department in Wenatchee, Wash. Since the 1960's growers have kept apples firm in warehouses by reducing oxygen and raising carbon dioxide levels in what is called controlled atmosphere storage. That has allowed some varieties to be sold all year, although they don't keep their full flavor and can go soft and mealy in stores and homes. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
